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KAREN BARTA: Good morning. I'm Karen Barta with news from Minnesota Public Radio. The University of Minnesota announced this morning it is suing the federal government to stop government efforts to collect approximately $100 million in damages for alleged funding abuses in the Department of Surgery. Regents Chair Tom Reagan said the government's claims are unjust, unwarranted, and outrageous, and the government is greedy. The government is seeking damages related to misuse of funds related to the algae transplant drug program and a program to research the treatment of high cholesterol.

The long political career of Walter Mondale is over. He returned from Tokyo yesterday after serving more than three years as US ambassador to Japan. Mondale says whoever replaces him in Tokyo will have a very important job.

WALTER MONDALE: US-Japan relations-- the way I see it-- are the most important in the world and. It what's going on there, the growth of the economies of East Asia, the dynamism of the region is something that we have to be very, very aware of.

KAREN BARTA: Mondale plans to return to his law practice at Dorsey Whitney in Minneapolis. President Clinton has not yet nominated Mondale's replacement. The state forecast includes a winter storm watch for the West tonight and Tuesday. Snow likely in the West today, 1 to 3 inches possible by evening. Light snow spreading to the East during the afternoon. Highs in the teens in the Northwest to middle 20s in the South. And for the Twin Cities, occasional light snow, an inch of accumulation possible, and a high around 25 degrees.

Around the region this hour, skies are cloudy. Duluth reporting 10 degrees. It's 20 Rochester, 12 in Saint Cloud, and in the Twin Cities, light snow and 18 degrees. That's news from Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Karen Barta.

PAULA SCHROEDER: It's 10:06. I'm Paula Schroeder. This is Midmorning on Minnesota Public Radio.

[RELAXING MUSIC]

Today on Voices of Minnesota, we hear from two writers, playwright Barbara Field and television writer Mike Nelson. Barbara Field is best known for her adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol for the Guthrie Theater. Mike Nelson is best known as one of the writers and the host of Mystery Science Theater 3000. We start with Barbara Field. She got the break of a lifetime 22 years ago when she was asked to adapt A Christmas Carol for the stage.

The story of the transformation of Scrooge from a greedy to a benevolent businessman was a huge commercial success for Charles Dickens. The stage version continues to be a big commercial success for the Guthrie Theater. The Christmas Carol on stage this year is changed. Barbara field told Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson the work needed to be updated.

DAN OLSON: Let's start with Christmas Carol and the readaptation. How is the readaptation different from the one we've been seeing for-- what-- 20, 25, 21 years?

BARBARA FIELD: That's right. In spite of the rumors, let me assure you that I have not bumped off Tiny Tim. There was some temptation, but-- [CHUCKLES] and obviously, you don't deconstruct anything like that. First comes the Ghost of Christmas Past. Much of it is the same because there is a splendid novella to work from. But we're-- 21 years later, we were still in those days coming off the euphoria of the Great Society and hopeful about solving some of the problems.

20 years later, the poor are much poorer and the rich are richer. And so this is-- this time, I have approached it with a little more seriousness of purpose. Not that it isn't funny, not that it isn't full of color, but my intention was a little different.

DAN OLSON: Here we have this beloved story. Some cynics would say it's a nice little Christmas bauble and people come to see it. It's a feel good experience. How have you made it edgier?

BARBARA FIELD: Well, by taking more seriously the darker parts of the novella. He was a benevolent capitalist, that's what Dickens was, I think. And he really believed very strongly that the rich had a responsibility, which perhaps some of them nowadays don't.

DAN OLSON: He wasn't a raving socialist. This was not a tract.

BARBARA FIELD: No, it wasn't a tract, but he did feel that the poor needed help.

DAN OLSON: What we want to know, I think, is how do you take the words of Charles Dickens in this shorter novel and make a stage work out of it?

BARBARA FIELD: He does all the work for you. I later did an adaptation of Great Expectations. And he was a man of the theater. He auditioned as an actor before he wrote this. He had a little stage in his house. He was constantly giving readings. And he had made the web. And his language is so luscious and wonderfully speakable. It's not like certain other great writers. I wouldn't want to adapt Flaubert to the stage. It's a different kettle of fish entirely. But Dickens was a joy to work with.

DAN OLSON: I'm no Dickens scholar. I didn't know that about him, that he was an aspiring actor. For heaven's sake, what an interesting piece of historical trivia.

BARBARA FIELD: And later on in his life, he went out on tours with readings and was just, you know, keen on it. There's a lot of theater in his novels. And of course, Nicholas Nickleby, the famous Crummles Family. And in Our Mutual Friend, I think there's theater and more. You know, that permeates.

DAN OLSON: His story Christmas Carol had a big impact on him, had a big commercial impact on him, has had a big commercial impact on the Guthrie. Did it have a big social transformation impact either then or now, in your opinion?

BARBARA FIELD: I don't know. I would love to think so. I would love to think so. I think we are going to find out in the next decade about people-- you know, with all that's been going on with the welfare changes and this and that, we're going to have to look at the private sector and see whether they, in fact, take things like this seriously and whether they do start to give a little more to the poor.

DAN OLSON: As a playwright, do you take on, that agenda of being a social transformer, a social agent, when you put your pen to something and make it for the stage that you want the theatergoers to go out and say, that's right, that message is right. I want to change the world now?

BARBARA FIELD: Yeah, I do, but I hate polemic theater. I don't think it works. I think when you write something sufficiently polemic, you're really preaching only to the converted. And I think it's a matter of seduction. I think you have to seduce people into rethinking their positions.

DAN OLSON: One of the things that audiences miss is how playwrights have to adapt their words, the timing, the scale, the movement of the play to fit the technical demands. How does that work?

BARBARA FIELD: Well, that's absolutely the truth. And you can't have someone coming in a door in a new costume which is an actor who has just exited in another costume. You have to be realistic. And one of the things that happened back in 1975 was, well, there was no Velcro, and it was before it was invented or certainly before anyone knew about it. And when Scrooge wakes up in the morning dressed in his long Johns and nightshirt, he has to get dressed in order to finish the play.

And I had to write endlessly-- it seemed to me-- a dialogue to cover his fumbling with the buttons and this and that. And now there's Velcro, and it still takes an amount of time, but, you know, half the time. And so technology changes things.

DAN OLSON: Well, let's talk about another adaptation of a slightly different kind. I just recently saw one of the new movie versions of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and this is the version where everyone is carrying a handgun instead of a sword. And there it could be Los Angeles, it could be Mexico City, but the point is, it's kind of--

BARBARA FIELD: Modern?

DAN OLSON: It's Modern. Thank you very much. In Middle English.

BARBARA FIELD: Yes.

DAN OLSON: And I'm wondering-- I don't know if you've seen it, but what do you think of that style of adaptation?

BARBARA FIELD: I think it's fine. They haven't really altered the language at all. They've been very faithful to it. I don't think anybody nowadays would want to see performers in what was Elizabethan garb and pumpkin pants and all of that ridiculous finery. Shakespeare loved to go into other periods. And I think the point is to make a connection to find some way which will put the piece in a context that we can understand.

Once upon a time here, before I worked for the Guthrie, I saw a production here of as As You Like It at pace and call. And it was set in postbellum Civil War. And seeing all those men, ragged men in gray sitting around the forest of Arden, it made me think, oh, I get it. I understand the business of banishment, isolation, and having lost something. And it was much clearer than if they had done it in Shakespearean clothes. I don't have any problem at all with changing those things.

DAN OLSON: Is there a lesson for playwrights, do you think, in the-- some would say-- simple messages contained in Christmas Carol, in Romeo and Juliet? Emotions are pretty much right out in front. There doesn't appear to be a lot of layering of meaning to me, although I'm sure there are layers of meaning. And I wonder if there's a lesson there.

BARBARA FIELD: Well, yeah, I think we all have to address ourselves to the feelings in the most simple way. And I don't think that's happened too frequently. I think we tend to obscure them. There are several lessons for playwrights. There is that one at the highest level. There are technical lessons, too, in doing adaptations. To learn the skill of how to make action go forward, you learn an awful lot about style.

Within a year or so, I did two adaptations, both set in 1840. One was Great Expectations-- British-- and the other was Camille, which I adapted from the novel. And the difference in style is extraordinary. And learning to do that, learning to take on the very elliptical voice of the French with great turned phrases and ellipses and-- well, for example, they never say thank you.

They say you are too kind. You know, that's one of the differences. And so there's great training in it. I advocate it for aspiring playwrights, if they're asked to do it.

DAN OLSON: Let's take just a moment to trace you a little bit more. So here you were growing up in Atlantic City. Were you already a playwright maniac? Were you staging plays, writing like crazy?

BARBARA FIELD: No, my mother, however, had spent a short period of time as an actress. I put an end to her career when I was three years old by getting hysterical when I saw her in the stage. But we went to a lot of theater. Atlantic City is a couple of hours from New York and an hour from Philadelphia. And she took me frequently, and she loved it and I did too. She sent me off to a summer stock company when I was 16.

I think she thought I'd get walk-ons. I cleaned the loo. I got coffee. But that was the deciding experience. I suddenly learned there the difference between something in script form and when you put it up on its feet.

DAN OLSON: You've done Dickens a pretty-- couple of big pieces? And what are the things that you want to do?

BARBARA FIELD: Well, I've always wanted to do The Confidence-Man by Herman Melville, which is a very painfully difficult book to read.

DAN OLSON: Go ahead and sketch the story.

BARBARA FIELD: Well, it simply-- it takes place on the Mississippi River, on a boat, on a steamboat. And there is a character in it who is a confidence-man. We never really know who he is because he changes his identity over and over again. At first, he's merely gulling people. But toward the end, it's about the fight for the American conscience, the soul, if you will. And it's so much about what our politics has become, about style rather than substance, about conning the public, and about the public's willingness to buy into that, that it interests me.

DAN OLSON: Barbara Field, a pleasure talking with you. Thank you for your time.

BARBARA FIELD: Thank you, Dan.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Playwright Barbara field, whose re-adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, is on stage at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. She talked with Dan Olson of Minnesota Public Radio. You're listening to our Voices of Minnesota interview heard Mondays as part of Midmorning. It's just about 10:19, and this is Midmorning. Programming on Minnesota Public Radio is supported by 3M, who generously matches more than 900 employee contributions to Minnesota Public Radio.

Well, last night or late night Twin Cities cable television viewers laughed and cheered in 1988, when Mystery Science Theater 3000 made its debut. Two mad scientists send a lone human into outer space. Episode after episode of the Eden Prairie-based production shows the forlorn space traveler making clever remarks while being forced to suffer through such screen turkeys as attack of the giant leeches or pod people.

There's even a movie version of the cable TV show. And in February, Mystery Science Theater 3000 makes its debut on the Syfy cable channel. The program's host and writer Mike Nelson told Minnesota Public Radio intern Brian Bull the human space travelers only comforts are his companions-- three robots.

MIKE NELSON: Pretty simply, it's a guy is stuck in space and forced to watch bad movies. And so to get through them, he's got these little robot companions, and they make comments to the movies. And hopefully, it makes it a little more enjoyable as you're watching the robot versus the Aztec mummy. Hi, everyone. I'm Mike And Crow and Servo here are helping me lots with my little wallpapering project.

CROW: That's right. I thought this would be a good way to give the place a little perk me up. [CHUCKLES] We were going to go with the Christmas wallpaper and then put the kibosh on that. And it was very difficult to say no to the birthday wallpaper. But I absolutely fell in love with this.

SERVO: Yes, sirree, Bob, we made the right choice.

CROW: We got to show Gypsy. Should we show Gypsy? Hey, Gypsy!

GYPSY: Ooh, ooh, ooh. Oh, my God! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh, run! Run! Run, run!

BRIAN BULL: Were you a TV kid? A product of the video generation?

MIKE NELSON: Yeah, I'm afraid so. There was a lot of TV when we were kids, a lot of Three Stooges after school. And that's probably not a good thing to have during your formative years, just guy's hitting each other over the head with copper pipes. So I still do that occasionally in mixed company, and it's not good.

BRIAN BULL: What types of jobs did you hold, Mike, before getting hooked into Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1989?

MIKE NELSON: I was in the lucrative restaurant business where I would serve food to people, and then they would pay me for that. And I was also-- I had a couple jobs in collection. I actually collected, over the phone, credit card debts, you know? So I was that person who you hated. It was a horrible job. It couldn't have been more against my own personality, calling people up and harassing them. So I was the gentle collection agent. Could you please maybe if you ever get around to-- oh, you can't? All right, that's OK. So I wasn't very good at it.

BRIAN BULL: Is the Mike Nelson on Mystery Science Theater 3000 the same Mike Nelson off screen?

MIKE NELSON: No, I don't think so. I mean, we've-- the characters sort of shifted. I think one of the things we're enjoying doing lately is coming to grips with the fact that I look like a farm kid, like the kid next door. And so it's kind of fun to poke holes in that image. So a lot of times the robots end up hurting me, and I enjoy that sort of humor wherein pain is inflicted. I don't know what-- it's probably that Three Stooges connection again.

BRIAN BULL: The original host of the program was Joel Hodgson that started in 1988 on KTMA-TV. You took over for him in 1993. How did it feel to assume the role of host?

MIKE NELSON: It happened kind of quickly, and I just started doing it without realizing that, wow, a lot of people aren't going to it and some really are, and it's going to shake things up a lot. I just kind of thought the movie is the thing, and as long as we keep doing that, we're fine. One of the mistakes that I made was I actually sort of paid attention to mail and things like that, and it's just not a good thing to do because any change in our show has gotten a lot of mail. People are so passionate about the show that we change, like the color of Joel's jumpsuit and we get like 100 letters saying, why did you change the color of his jumpsuit?

And so when this change happened, naturally, there was a lot of mail. And I actually started reading it, and I think that was a bad thing because, you know, it subtly works on, well, why can't he be a little more like this? And it's only one person. And, you know, you start to lose your own focus about why you're doing it and everything.

BRIAN BULL: And I imagine your occupation was not to be Joel Hodgson but to be Mike Nelson.

MIKE NELSON: Right, yeah. And I mean, he was the only host and I had written for him for so long and knew, you know, what this character was. And so it was a bit of a chore to find out, what's, you know, my character and what does that bring to it? And what are the strengths? And what should we write to? So yeah, it was a little bit of a learning process.

BRIAN BULL: How has life changed for you since becoming involved with Mystery Science Theater 3000?

MIKE NELSON: It hasn't changed a whole lot. It's been really wonderful. We've had a lot of opportunities. I think I've been really blessed with this job. But it's not the kind of job where I'm recognized and I don't-- I just enjoy it. And I don't need a lot from it, you know? It's not part of the thing that I want to go out to Hollywood and take the next step or I want to be recognized. It's like I'm very content where I am. And as long as we can keep doing this, it's going to be-- I'll do it another couple of years. I think it's a lot of fun.

BRIAN BULL: Are you able to walk into the corner grocery store and not get confronted by fans?

MIKE NELSON: I go completely unmolested through life. If we want to get recognized, we have to throw our own convention. You gather up the 2,000 people who recognize you and then you get recognized. You have to throw your own convention to have people see. It's kind of sad, but actually it works out well. I think that's-- at its best, it's fun, but it's a little unhealthy, I think, to be constantly recognized. It has to do something to you. And luckily, I don't have that problem.

BRIAN BULL: What qualifies a movie to be used on the show?

MIKE NELSON: We enjoy the visual stuff of, like, if there's a good monster that's just really silly. But the most lasting comedy thread that you can get through it is if a character is really pompous or is overplaying their role, those always help because you can just keep building on those as this character comes in and out of the story. And a plot that can actually be followed, as bad as it is, that's very helpful because if it's just you're in the middle of the movie and nobody knows what's going on, it's hard to make jokes that refer back to plot that doesn't exist or can't be followed.

BRIAN BULL: Do you ever hear back from the producers or the actors who appeared in these movies that you've put on the show and ridiculed?

MIKE NELSON: Yeah, as whatever reputation we have has sort of spread out there in the community, we get people coming back to us. And normally, they're pretty enthused about it. It's like this is something they did early in their career or maybe in a lot of cases it's something they only did once. You know, I was just in this movie and I couldn't believe I saw it again.

BRIAN BULL: They take it in stride.

MIKE NELSON: Yeah. I mean, I think the people who would be upset about it wouldn't contact us because it's not like they're in a defensible position, you know? It's not like, hey, I was good in that movie. I mean, normally, they know they were in a bad movie. So to take yourself too seriously is-- you put yourself in a dangerous place.

BRIAN BULL: Mystery Science Theater 3000 has really made a name for itself. And I understand with the backing of the Syfy channel, which is now adopted your program, it's going to be aired internationally. It's going to be very interesting to see how the humor translates in France or Spain or Germany, where, I guess, couch potato would translate to sofa kartoffeln.

[CHUCKLING]

Do you think the humor is going to translate over pretty well?

MIKE NELSON: I think if you really look at our show, the majority of the comments are reacting right to the movie itself, and it's right in front of you. And I think those are the most successful comments. And even if they're not the wittiest comments, I mean, you could sit and craft a really witty comment. But if there's a guy on screen and he's got, you know, drool coming out of his mouth, you know, you just say, look, he's drooling, a lot of people, they'll laugh just because oh, he's-- they're saying what we've all recognized.

But I think a lot of the movie is those kind of comments where you're playing a little bit off of the movie itself. And so those, I think, will be successful.

BRIAN BULL: So the French may not understand the references to the Wisconsin Dells, but the visual aspects of the movies that you comment on should translate just fine?

MIKE NELSON: Yeah, and also, it might be fresh for people in Europe to see these films. I think even to-- when we unearth a movie like Manos, the Hands of Fate, which is just this absurd story of this family that goes to a hotel run by the devil and his little goat-footed friend, Torgo. And it's the kind of movie where it's so interesting to watch it because the whole time you're watching it, besides it just being really funny and poorly done, you go, where did this movie come from?

I mean, who made this? You've never seen a movie like it, even though it's bad. So that's a selling point right there to the Europeans, they see these movies that they've possibly never been exposed to. And then there's the comments layer on top of it to help them get through it.

SPEAKER 1: Manos, the Hands of Fate.

SPEAKER 2: Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER 1: Manos, the Hands of Fate was filmed on location in a vacant lot. You know, every frame of this movie looks like someone's last known photograph.

TORGO: I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the master is away.

SPEAKER 1: The master? Bobby Fischer?

BRIAN BULL: Manos, the Hands of Fate, now, that's kind of a trademark movie now with the show, I understand it seems like your show, with its own cult following, has kind of helped this stink burger of a movie attain its own particular cult following. I've followed some of the threads on the internet, and there are a lot of references to Manos, the Hands of Fate, Torgo, and Hal Warren, who, I understand, made the film. Rumor has it he was actually a fertilizer salesman out of El Paso, Texas.

MIKE NELSON: Yeah, that's what we heard. And this all-- this is hearsay. But apparently, the guy who played Torgo and Hal Warren, they arranged this big screening in El Paso. They had the whole social community come out for this big opening and they made a big deal about it. And the movie happened. And it was just like The Rite of Spring premiere or something. It was a total disaster, and people were rioting and laughing at them. And apparently Torgo was so distraught with this, he, you know, he got into drugs.

And somebody told me he died of a heroin overdose. So there's a sad ending to this thing. But, you know, this is the kind of stuff that it makes a really good story. And I have no idea whether it's true or not. So--

BRIAN BULL: Mystery Science Theater 3000 certainly draws a spirited and unique breed of audience. What are some of the more interesting or unusual items you've received through the Mail

MIKE NELSON: Somebody sent us a toenails. I thought that was unpleasant. I think your own toenails are your own business. And whether that means, you know, you're in a locker room and you're clipping your toenails and they're flying into other people's eyes, don't do that and don't mail them to us. And we got somebody's teeth when they got their wisdom teeth pulled. And you open up a letter and out come these bloody wisdom teeth. That's gruesome, you know? You're waiting for the ransom note to accompany that.

But mostly, people are very-- they send artwork. We get just tons of artwork from kids drawing the robots and tons of artwork from adults too and comic book illustrators and things like that. So mostly, it's a lot of fun stuff. But occasionally, it gets weird.

BRIAN BULL: What are some of the honors and awards the program has received?

MIKE NELSON: Well, we're the Susan Lucci of the ACE awards. We've lost that, I believe, seven years in a row in different categories. But writing and won and best show sometimes. But we've lost that every time, mostly, to the same people-- Larry Sanders or Dennis Miller. And we've lost a couple Emmys, which I like to put it in that sort of negative way. We've lost Emmys instead of we've been nominated for Emmys. And we've picked up the prestigious Peabody Award.

BRIAN BULL: But what does the Peabody signify?

MIKE NELSON: Excellence in broadcasting. The AGUS body of the University of Georgia takes programs, normally pretty serious programs and mostly documentaries and news programs, and they just award excellence in those areas. But every year, they have some sort of entertainment thing that they pick out usually. I think Letterman won it one year, so it's pretty good company.

It was really strange. We were at the Waldorf, and there's this big ceremony and it's very sort of serious because the topics of these documentaries are so serious. And then the puppet show, Mystery Science-- you know, it's sort of embarrassing. You walk up with your little puppet-- you got your puppet clip going on, and Mano's up there. And these other people are slugging it out in Bosnia and everything. You feel sort of silly. But it was actually a very, very nice award.

[RELAXING MUSIC]

PAULA SCHROEDER: Mike Nelson, the host of cable TV'S Mystery Science Theater 3000. He talked with Minnesota Public Radio intern Brian Bull. Our Voices of Minnesota interviews are heard most Mondays as part of Midmorning. The producer is Dan Olson.

[INTRIGUING MUSIC]

RAY SUAREZ: I'm Ray Suarez. Imagine an ensemble that really could be all things to all people. Romantic, folkish, precise, yet, filled with spirit. Quartetto Gelato might be what classical music needs, a reminder that music for grown ups can be fun too. Quartetto Gelato live from NPR'S Performance Studio on the next Talk of the Nation, from NPR News.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Talk of the Nation at 1 o'clock this afternoon here on Minnesota Public Radio. It's 28 minutes before 11 o'clock.

[BING CROSBY AND THE ANDREWS SISTERS, "JINGLE BELLS"]

(SINGING) Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. What fun to ride and sing in a one-horse open Sleigh. Dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh o'er the fields we go laughing all the way. Bells on bobtails ring, making spirits bright. What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight.

Jingle bells, ji-jingle bells jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse horse open sleigh. [VOCALIZING]

Jingle bells, ji-ji-ji-jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. Dashing through--

PAULA SCHROEDER: Oh, the distinctive stylings of Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters together on one CD. Arne Fogel is here with us. Arne, of course, knows everything about that, that great old music. Arne, it's wonderful to have you here today, and thanks for bringing in this new collection.

ARNE FOGEL: It's a unique, a really unique collection. I think it's the first time that it's ever been done that they've taken all of Crosby's records with the Andrews Sisters, everything that they did together, every-- just at least one take of everything and put it on one collection, the type of thing that only would come out during the CD era albums, LPS during all of those years, they didn't seem to have that archival instinct to the degree that they do now with CD collections.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Well, you can put so much on one.

ARNE FOGEL: That's it.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Well, actually, this is two discs, but there are more than 50 songs on those two discs.

ARNE FOGEL: It's incredible. And there's alternate takes of some of them. And there are a lot of blow-up versions of some of them. The thing I love most about the "Jingle Bells" track, not only is it a wonderful little song for the holidays, but it's amazing how they took this-- it was essentially a children's song, so familiar to everybody. And along with Vic Shane's orchestration, they turned it into, really, a classic of the swing era. 1943 is the year, and those little distinctive Crosby

(SINGING) laughing all the way, very jazzy little way to sing this song.

And the Andrews Sisters had a great sense of swing and a great sense of the beat. And they were a wonderful combination.

PAULA SCHROEDER: I didn't realize that they recorded so much together. You were telling me before we went on the air that, actually, Bing Crosby recorded more with the Andrews Sisters than with anyone else.

ARNE FOGEL: Than any other vocalists. And that may not seem like that great a claim on the face of it because he did make so many records with them, obviously, but he made a lot of records with a lot of other people. You could just reel off dozens and dozens of names, talk about duets and the Sinatra concept of the '90s. But my heavens, Bing Crosby recorded with literally dozens of big name artists, everybody from the Boswell sisters in the 1930s to, of course, a familiar people like Judy Garland and Bob hope and Mary Martin and Lee Wiley and Louis Armstrong and Fred Astaire.

And he made several records with each of these people. And the Andrews sisters, though, that was the winning combination, so much so that if you look at lists compendiums of the recordings of either act, you find separate sections for the combination. So successful were they and so prolific were they together, that Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters is almost an act apart on records from Bing Crosby or the Andrews Sisters. And in time, they learned to work together in a very instinctive way, almost as if Bing was the fourth Andrews brother.

PAULA SCHROEDER: [CHUCKLES]

ARNE FOGEL: Their very first recording together was rather more tentative. They hadn't quite found that combination, that way of singing together in an ensemble fashion, melding together. Patty Andrews being a solo voice, occasionally, duetting with Bing and the group coming in. There's a formula that they had eventually worked out. Initially, their first record together in 1939 was called "Ciribiribin," which was a very popular song, and Harry James' theme song.

And they simply alternated. But it's still an interesting record because it's-- a great spirit to it. A lot of that is due to Joe Venuti, the wonderful fiddle player whose orchestra accompanied them here on their first recording. And this was the only time he worked with this distinctive quartet.

[JOE VENUTI & HIS ORCH, BING CROSBY, THE ANDREWS SISTERS, "CIRIBIRIBIN"]

(SINGING) When the moon hangs low in Napoli, there's a handsome gondolier. Every night he sings so happily so his lady love can hear. In a manner so bravissimo, he repeats his serenade. And his heart beat so fortissimo when she raises her Venetian shades.

Ciribiribin. Ciribiribin. Ciribiribin Ciribiribin, he waits for her each night beneath her balcony. Ciribiribin he begs to hold her tight, but no, she won't agree. Ciribiribin, she throws a rose and blows a kiss from up above.

Ciribiribin, Ci-Cibiribiribin, Ciribiribin, they're so in love. Ciribibibibi, Ciribibibibi--

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yeah, I can hear the, OK, Bing, it's your turn now. The Andrews sisters, it's your turn. But it was a good start. How did they get together to begin with?

ARNE FOGEL: Well, this is due to, really, one of the Wizards of the recording business in the early years, a fellow named Jack Kapp, who started Decca Records, for which both Bing and the Andrews Sisters recorded. And Jack Kapp liked combining artists. And there's a little bit of sisterly conflict here, controversy, you might say, because as Maxene Andrews remembered it-- Maxene Andrews just passed away, I think, this year or last year-- she remembered that Bing did not want to record with the Andrews sisters, that he was a little bit concerned about how they would meld, how they would blend, or if they wouldn't blend.

And Jack Kapp convinced him to as a favor to him to please go-- when you're out in New York, please make this record, the one we just heard with the girls. And he liked it so much, that he decided that it would be fine to record with them again. Patty Andrews, on the other hand, says that it was Bing's idea that he got to know the Andrews Sisters and loved their beat and he was eager to work with them and suggested it to Jack Kapp. Rather, it's difficult to know which story could be real.

The first one sounds real because Crosby was a sort of a reticent person and not necessarily a very effusive person who would have suggested, hey, I'd like to work with you. On the other hand, Crosby loved rhythm and he loved anybody who swung. And he might have heard something in the Andrews Sisters that appealed to him and, thereby, might have made the suggestion after all. So who knows?

PAULA SCHROEDER: Well, it was a magical combination of styles, really, because even though they both swing and they're known for that swing, Crosby has that laid back kind of a sound. And the Andrews Sisters are almost hyperactive.

ARNE FOGEL: Exactly. You know, that's also why Crosby worked well on the records he made with Judy Garland. And a lot of people feel it's a shame that they never filmed together because she was so hyper and he was so laid back. In 1943, they made what a lot of people feel to be-- feel was one of their most successful records. It was called "Pistol Packin' Mama," and it was a multi-million selling record.

And one of the things that Patty Andrews, who now, fortunately, she's still with us, but unfortunately, she's the only surviving member of the quartet, that she remembers as being an hysterical moment and one that totally surprised the girls is the moment where the line is supposed to go, Pistol Packin' Mama, lay that pistol down. And instead, Crosby stuck an interpolation, a little interpretation in that through them all for a loop and almost caused a breakdown of the take because they started to laugh. And here's a little bit of that section of "Pistol Packin' Mama."

PAULA SCHROEDER: Great.

[BING CROSBY AND THE ANDREWS SISTERS, "PISTOL PACKIN MAMA"]

Oh, lay that pistol down, babe, lay that pistol down. Pistol packin' mama, lay that thing down before it goes off and hurts somebody. Oh, she kicked out my windshield and she hit me over the head. She cussed and cried and said I'd lied and she wished that I was dead. Oh, lay that pistol down, babe, lay that pistol down. Pistol packin' mama, lay that pistol down.

We're three tough gals from deep down Texas way. We got no pals. They don't like the way we play. We're a rough, rootin' tootin' shooting trio, but you oughta see my sister Cleo. She's a terror, make no error, but there ain't no nicer terror. Here's what we tell her. Lay that pistol down, babe, lay that pistol down. Pistol packin' mama, lay that pistol down.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yeah, I can see where they might have cracked up in that first line.

ARNE FOGEL: But I love that, the way he ends it the next time with that

(SINGING) Pistole packin' mama.

There's always that little jazz thing that's going on underneath in these records. And so many popular records of the 1930s and '40s were all rooted-- not all, but many of them were rooted and based with a jazz foundation because that's where all of the players and vocalists came from.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yeah.

ARNE FOGEL: And--

PAULA SCHROEDER: Well, you listened to the band too.

ARNE FOGEL: Vic Shane, we have to credit Vic Shane because he's on most of these recordings on this new CD, this new collection, because he was on most of the old 78s. Funny how that works.

PAULA SCHROEDER: [CHUCKLES]

ARNE FOGEL: And he had a marvelous sense of fun, not just swing, but a great imagination and a very distinctive sound that was just ideal for these Bing Crosby Andrews Sisters combinations.

PAULA SCHROEDER: What's next? You got something else? They had a lot of hits, like you said, together. But this was a real big one. It's kind of fun to hear what was a big hit, what was a multi-million dollar or multi-million seller.

ARNE FOGEL: Like the one we just heard.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Right.

PAULA SCHROEDER: And there were so many like that. This next one I chose, not because it was a big hit, because it wasn't particularly a big hit, but I think it sort of shows the team working together at the height of its powers. This portion, we don't have time for the whole recording, but it's called "High On The List." It's a song that Crosby sang in one of his movies that the Andrews Sisters were not in, although they were in-- they did a number with him in Road To Rio.

But in this particular movie, Mr. Music, he sang "High on the List" and went into Decca Studios and made the record with the Andrews Sisters. And this shows how they'd evolved over this 11-year period to a point where Bing-- as I said before, there's a portion where Bing and Patty duet and the trio comes in. There's a build, there's an arching. And insofar as this record is one of their more serious efforts, less joking around, more concentration on music making, I think it's really quite a beautiful performance. It's called "High on the List."

[BING CROSBY AND THE ANDREWS SISTERS, "HIGH ON THE LIST"]

High on the list of beautiful sounds is your sigh, and I know music. Of all the wonders I'd hate to have missed, I'd name the thrill when we kissed.

And if that isn't the greatest, it's certainly high on the list. Higher and higher and higher and high on the list of beautiful sounds Is your sigh, and we know music.

Of all the wonders I'd hate to have missed, I'd name the thrill when we kiss. And if that isn't the greatest, it's certainly high, it's a very, very high on the list.

PAULA SCHROEDER: There you can hear the fourth Andrews sister, the fourth brother, rather, in that harmony there. We're talking with Arne Fogel today about a new collection that's out of the hits and all the songs that Bing Crosby did with the Andrews Sisters.

ARNE FOGEL: Everything they did together.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yeah, yeah. It's a two-CD set, and boy, is it nicely remastered. So often on some of these older songs, you expect to hear the little bit of a crackle and hiss and pop, and none of that.

ARNE FOGEL: They're getting better and better at doing that. I recall getting some reissued recordings of various types of Jelly Roll Morton set in about 1990 of things on CD, and they're pretty troublesome as far as the things you just mentioned. But as time goes by, they're getting more exacting and taking more time and greater care in reprocessing or whatever they call it, digitally and the whole-- I'm not much of a technician when it comes to that sort of thing, but they're doing a wonderful job. And this is one of the best I've ever heard.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Wow.

ARNE FOGEL: MCA records, which now owns all of the Decca masters, and they reissue it with the Decca name just to kind of add to the atmosphere, the nostalgic appeal of it all. And the liner notes are wonderful. They mentioned some of the things about what it was like to work with Bing and interviewing the Andrews sisters, Patty and Maxene, and some of the things that they said about how they loved working with him, how he was a very generous artist to work with, but he was very Moody and that he would-- one of the things that Patty says--

I can't recall if it's in these liner notes or in something else I read-- that she said that you could tell the way he had his hat angled when he walked into the studio what kind of a mood he was in that day.

If he had his hat firmly down on his forehead, that meant there was no monkey business, and he was not going to be making a lot of small talk and that you would get down to business and do the record. And if his hat was back on his head, that meant Bing was going to be having fun and that he was-- things were going well that day.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Interesting. Well, he was known as a pretty intimidating guy to work with.

ARNE FOGEL: That's what Vic Shane said. And my own experience in dealing with interviewing his business manager for 40 years when I was chatting with him about the type of guy that Bing was, one of the things he said is he was a very nice guy to work with and very honest and very fair. And then he shook his head and said, but he was a moody Irishman.

PAULA SCHROEDER: [CHUCKLES]

ARNE FOGEL: As far as-- he must have had his hat back on the head this particular day that they did "Three Caballeros" from the Walt Disney film. I forget the name of the film, but--

PAULA SCHROEDER: Oh, yeah. Ooh.

ARNE FOGEL: Donald Duck was in it. And it was one of the obviously animated.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Somebody will know.

ARNE FOGEL: Yes. But Bing and The Andrews Sisters did this song from that film in 1943. And this is not the released version.

PAULA SCHROEDER: OK.

[BING CROSBY AND THE ANDREWS SISTERS, "THE THREE CABALLEROS"]

(SINGING) Ah, we have the stars beside us, guitars here beside us to play as we go. [VOCALIZING]

We sing and we samba. We shout aye caramba.

BING CROSBY: [BLOWS RASPBERRIES]

[LAUGHTER]

MAN: Go ahead for time.

[LAUGHTER]

Play it for time!

PAULA SCHROEDER: [CHUCKLES] Gees.

ARNE FOGEL: The producer is wildly screaming, play for time, play it-- so they want to know how long it's going to be.

PAULA SCHROEDER: You know, because I wonder, why does the band keep playing? Obviously, this is not going to be a take.

ARNE FOGEL: If you're familiar with the released version, you can hear that what they were doing was crazy. They went in to started playing off key deliberately just for a laugh. But they're supposed to say what means aye caramba, and Crosby just made that little raspberry sound.

PAULA SCHROEDER: [CHUCKLES] By the way, Marcy, our producer, tells us that the name of the movie is the same as the song, Three Caballeros. Yeah.

ARNE FOGEL: Very good.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yeah.

ARNE FOGEL: She dug it in the notes there.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Right, right.

ARNE FOGEL: Very good liner notes on these reissues these days too. They tell you everything you may need to know. And if you've got a good producer, she will--

PAULA SCHROEDER: Even better.

ARNE FOGEL: --she'll dig around there and find out for you.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Well, Arne, we're going to go out on another Christmas tune, which is appropriate, I think, for this season. But before we do that, I want to tell folks about something that you are up to that has been very successful, and that is your performances at the Bloomington Park Tavern.

ARNE FOGEL: Thank you, thank you. This is a really nice show that we're doing called Broadway to Hollywood. And Bloomington Park Tavern is Highway 100 and 494 in Bloomington, of all places.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Wow.

ARNE FOGEL: And Patty Peterson and I are doing all of these great show tunes and with Jeanne Arland Peterson on piano and she-- talk about swinging.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Who is the piano player in town.

ARNE FOGEL: Oh, yes. And there's two more nights, a Thursday night and Sunday night. And they're serving a wonderful, beautiful dinner to go along with it. That's a nice gift too. If you don't want to buy that two-CD set for the folks, you may want to treat them to Broadway to Hollywood with Patty and me.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Get a nice dinner and show at Bloomington Park Tavern. Get your call in quick because they're filling up.

ARNE FOGEL: Yeah, Thursday, I believe, is pretty close to full, so--

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yeah, OK.

ARNE FOGEL: But I appreciate that little plugola.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Well, sure.

ARNE FOGEL: Thank you.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Sure, Arne. You're a heck of a performer yourself. Well, let's hear a little bit more from Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, "Here Comes Santa Claus."

[BING CROSBY AND THE ANDREWS SISTERS, "HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS"]

(SINGING) Here comes Santa Claus. Here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane. Vixen and Blitzen and all his reindeer are pulling on the reins. Bells are ringing, children singing. All is Merry and bright. Hang your stockings and say your prayers 'cause Santa Claus comes tonight. Here comes Santa Claus. Here comes Santa Claus right down Santa Claus Lane.

He's got a bag that is filled with toys for the boys and girls again. Hear those sleigh bells jingle jangle. What a beautiful sight. Jump in bed, cover up your head 'cause Santa Claus comes tonight, tonight. Santa Claus comes tonight. Happy days. Happy times. Listen to the bells and chimes as Santa Claus comes your way today. Here comes Santa Claus. Here comes--

PERRY FINELLI: Joining the Peace Corps has long been a choice for people looking to expand their horizons. Will it continue to be an option? And what does the future hold for the Peace Corps? Hi. I'm Perry Finelli. On the next Midday, we'll go live to the National Press Club in Washington, DC, for an appearance by Mark Gearan, the current director of the Peace Corps. Midday begins at 11:00 with the latest news and weather. Peace Corps Director Mark Gearan at noon on KNOW FM 91.1 in the Twin Cities.

PAULA SCHROEDER: This is Midmorning on Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Paula Schroeder. Coming up on 7 minutes-- oh, actually 6 and 1/2 minutes now before 11 o'clock. Need to tell you that there is another winter storm watch in effect and we'll probably get one to 3 inches of snow in Western Minnesota by tonight. And that's going to move across the state into the Middle East. And accumulations are likely tonight and tomorrow in the central and Northern parts of the state. Some blowing and drifting snow as well.

In the Twin Cities, we could get about an inch of snow today, and the roads are not good. So be aware of that if you're out driving around today. It's time now for Garrison Keillor and the Writer's Almanac.

[RELAXING PIANO MUSIC]

GARRISON KEILLOR: And here is the Writer's Almanac for Monday. It's the 16th of December, 1996. It's Beethoven's birthday, Jane Austen. it's the birthday of Noel Coward. It's on this day in state capitals all around the country the electors are meeting to cast the official votes for president and vice president of the United States. In Mexico, it's the starting of posadas today. It lasts another eight days. A Christmas celebration.

Groups of people posing as pilgrims go from door to door and ask for posada or shelter as Mary and Joseph sought shelter where Jesus could be born. They're invited indoors. There a number of activities, including the blindfolding of people who then bat at a pinata with a stick. It's the birthday of the English science fiction writer Arthur Clark, Minehead Somerset, 1917.

The author of the short story The Sentinel, from which the film 2001, A Space Odyssey was made. It's the birthday of Margaret Mead in Philadelphia, 1901, the anthropologist, author of Coming of Age in Samoa. VS Pritchett was born in Ipswich in Suffolk, England, in 1900, on this day, Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett. He wrote short stories and novels and much more, collections, including You Make Your Own Life, Blind Love and other stories.

Noel Coward, born in Teddington, near London, 1899. The playwright famous for his comedies of Manners, Private Lives, Design For Living and other books. The architect who designed Saint Thomas's church in New York City and much of the Military Academy at West Point, Ralph Adams Cram, born in Hampton falls, new Hampshire, 1863.

The philosopher George Santayana in Madrid, 1863, who said those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Jane Austen in Hampshire, England, in the village of Steventon in 1775. Four of her novels appeared anonymously during her lifetime, including Sense and Sensibility in 1811 and Pride and Prejudice two years later. The Boston Tea Party took place on this date in 1773.

Beethoven born in Bonn in Northwest Germany in 1770 on this day. His father and grandfather both had been musicians. At the age of 17, he was sent to Vienna to study with Mozart. He was unable to stay though. His mother died. He had to return to Bonn and support his family. But in 1792, the age of 22, he left to study with Haydn in London and launch himself on his great career as a composer.

Here's a poem for today by Seamus Heaney entitled "Mossbawn Sunlight for Mary Heaney." There was a sunlit absence. The helmeted pump in the yard heated its iron. Water honeyed in the slung bucket, and the sun stood like a griddle, cooling against the wall of each long afternoon. So her hands scuffled over the back board.

The reddening stove sent its plaque of heat against her, where she stood in a flowery apron by the window. Now she dusts the board with a goose's wing. Now sits broad lapped with whitened nails and muzzling shins. Here is a space again, the scone rising to the tick of two clocks. And here is love like a tinsmith's scoop sunk past its gleam in the meal bin.

A poem by Seamus Heaney, "Mossbawn Sunlight" from his poems 1965 to 1975 published by Farrar, Straus, Giroux, and used by permission here on the Writer's Almanac for Monday, December the 16th. Made possible by Cowles Enthusiast Media, publishers of American history, and the historynet.com where history lives on the world wide web. Be well, do good work and keep in touch.

[THEME MUSIC]

PAULA SCHROEDER: Well, that's Midmorning for today. Thanks so much for joining us. Tomorrow, we are going to be talking about coping with the holidays when you have a divorce in your family with Judge Mary Davidson, founder of the Divorce With Dignity program. Hope you can join us then. I'm Paula Schroeder. Stay tuned for Midday.

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JON GORDON: Computers as a political lobbying tool. I'm Jon Gordon, and we'll have that story on the next Future Tense. And you can find out about the latest internet hoax. Future Tense in one half hour on Minnesota Public Radio, KNOW FM 91.1.

PAULA SCHROEDER: You're listening to Minnesota Public Radio.

[BEEPING]

21 degrees at KNOW FM 91.1 Minneapolis, Saint Paul. We'll have light snow throughout the day today. An inch of accumulation possible by this evening. Look for a high near 25 degrees. Southeast winds at 10 to 20 miles per hour. Snow will continue tonight and tomorrow with some additional accumulation, not a lot, though, and the high tomorrow around 25.

[THEME MUSIC]

GARY EICHTEN: Good morning. It's 11 o'clock, and this is Midday on Minnesota Public Radio. With Monitor Radio's David Brown, I'm Gary Eichten. In the news this morning, another snowstorm is moving across the region. Blizzard-like conditions are forecast for the Dakotas and Western Minnesota. Presidential electors are meeting around the nation today to officially elect Bill Clinton president. The results will be announced next month.